Horror maestro John Carpenter is front and center in the first music video promoting his debut album "Lost Themes". One of if no...

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Feb 18, 2013

Dragon's Crown - Breathing New Life Into Forgotten Genres

Vanillaware has been responsible for some of my favorite games in the last decade or so, bringing us games like Odin's Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which were all unified by a beautiful, painterly art style and side scrolling gameplay with modern RPG elements.

First announced at E3 2011, Dragon's Crown is an ARPG which will bring back a long forgotten genre, the traditional side scrolling beat em' up. Featuring a total of six classes- Fighter, Amazon, Elf, Sorceress, Wizard and Dwarf, this game will feature multiple branching paths, deeper gameplay and dozens of secret areas, as well as online play to boost replayability and some gameplay aspects reminiscent of Demon's Souls.

Art Director and founder of Vanillaware George Kamitani returns yet again to deliver a visually stunning looking title, which could be best described as a painting in motion. His philosophy has remained the same over the years, shunning ever changing industry trends and continuing to embrace the 2D games he loved to play growing up. Dragon's Crown represents a project that Kamitani thought up in 1997 following the release of the cult Sega Saturn hit Princess Crown.

Having grown up in the arcades with plenty of exposure to classic Capcom titles like Knights Of The Round and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara, it just feels good to know that some passionate devs are bringing this genre to a new generation. Check out a full art gallery featuring the stylized protagonists and world of Dragon's Crown. Get hype.